In the first round of the Dubai Championships Radwanska was nearly edged out by Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak coming back from 3-5 down in the third set to prevail. And from then on hardly put a foot wrong.
Goerges had a much more interesting and up and down road into the final which included being out played by Svetlana Kuznetsova for set and half before coming back to win, the getting ready to face Victoria Azarenka, who withdrew so Goerges played lucky loser, Casey Dellaqua in the semi final Julia won her third consecutive match up with former world number one Caroline Wozniacki despite hitting nearly 60 unforced errors. Georgs' efforts see her equal her career high rank of 16.
In Memphis Sofia Arvidsson has continued her love affair by winning her second career title in the indoor championships. Three of Arvidsson fours career finals have now all been in Memphis.
106 comments:
New post wooooooohoooooo!!
I have to say once again, I'm glad you are feeling better Clefairy. :) I hope you are now 100% in good health. :)
Mr.Caps321 must be dancing up and down his block in celebration of Aggie's historic climb.
At this moment I say the doubles team of Dulko/Suarez is a waste of time.
Now that the bloggers are back that this mean that I have to behave?...
...Or do I misbehave all the time? :P
When do you ever behave Carlos :P
And thank you :) much better now!
So that is the reason why Santa didn't leave presents for me last Christmas! :P
Lucinda, sorry to hear you had the kissing disease!
Still haven't been able to see the Acapulco draw yet but I've been checking periodically.
Draws are out Caps.
Seeds 1-3 and the 8th seeds are Italians.
No Mona. She is listening to me, good girl!
Speaking of Italians, first of all why was Errani playing in Monterrey and not Dubai? And how could Errani not even reach the final? She is in thin ice with me.
tennis.com
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After winning her fourth title of the year in Dubai with partner Lisa Raymond, American Liezel Huber says she believes that she and her compatriot will be selected for the London Olympics. While Huber and Raymond are the world’s top team and will automatically qualify for the Games if they are ranked in the Top 10 after Roland Garros, they still have to be selected by their country. Because former Olympic gold medalist Venus Williams has expressed a desire to play doubles and may need a wild card to get into the competition, Raymond is worried that they might not be picked.
"She keeps saying, 'we hope,'" Huber said of Raymond. "Absolutely we're going to be playing. I think it would be crazy if our country didn't select us to go as the team. But it's a selection process, so you have to honor and respect that. But we will be tough competitors and contenders."
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It would be a sad day if Venus 'medal blocks' these women from Olympic glory.
IMO, Venus should play singles or stay at home. Besides, there is no point for her to even be on the team unless she can guarantee her health is good and will allow her to perform at 100%.
Not really sure how this whole Olympics thing works but McHale better be on the team and playing along with the rest of my women for their respective countries!
Guess Aggie is representing my entire stable since she's the only one playing in either tournament..
Even though I don't like Huber/Raymond at all, I have to agree with you Caps. If something is not broke why fix it? This is the number one team in doubles and they are kicking butt this year. The Olympic committee better leave this team intact to represent the U.S. or there is going to be hell to pay. The only excuse would be if someone gets injured.
I'm afraid there is a possibility that McHale is going to be left out the U.S. Olympic team. Maybe Clefairy can correct me but I think in Olympic singles competition the top two players represent their country and in doubles the top team. Knowing how the U.S. Olympic committee or whomever are the morons who runs things, they are going to take both Williams sisters in singles leaving McHale as an alternate. I hope not.
While on the Olympic tennis topic, I remember when The Fist Pumping Imbecile was injured for the Olympics but she said that she could play. I knew she couldn't, it was obvious but she came out marching in the opening ceremony anyways only to withdraw before the first round. By doing so the Imbecile took away the spot of someone who could have experienced an Olympic opening ceremony.
With Olympic selection its I think, and I am not sure because I am going by memory, its the top 72 players or something but each country can only have four representatives so obviously with countries like Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic its a bit like a battle to see who will qualify
If I understood you correctly Clefairy,, it would mean the top two singles players and the top two doubles players for each country...And I feel there is an entire page of fine print. :P
No that was just for singles :P Doubles is based on doubles rankings! I think there would be a whole document of fine print!
As of February 27, 2012
Radwanska, Agnieszka 5 (6)
Stosur, Samantha 6 (5)
Li, Na 8 (9)
Zvonareva, Vera 9 (8)
Goerges, Julia 16 (19)
Peer, Shahar 41 (40)
Erakovic, Marina 46 (54)
Halep, Simona 50 (53)
Arvidsson, Sofia 55 (72)
Babos, Timea 68 (107)
Cadantu, Alexandra 82 (110)
Mayr-Achleitner, Patricia 94 (103)
Bratchikova, Nina 96 (106)
Dulko, Gisela 98 (64)
Hampton, Jamie 99 (104)
Falconi, Irina 100 (101)
Oudin, Melanie 209 (208)
Mature McHale making her move
If things fall into place, McHale, who withdrew from last week's Dubai tournament to rest a sore shoulder, could be in line to be seeded at the upcoming BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. There are 32 seeds at the tournament, and with Serena Williams not playing there, and always the possibility that some players will pull out, she could make the seeding cut.
http://tinyurl.com/7osay7l
WITHDRAWALS
Acapulco
Oprandi, Romina (SUI) Right knee injury
Parmentier, Pauline (FRA) Right wrist injury
Pervak, Ksenia (KAZ) Viral illness
Pous-Tio, Laura (ESP) Left knee injury
Zahlavova Strycova, Barbora (CZE) Right shoulder injury
Kuala Lumpur
Bartoli, Marion (FRA) Right lower leg injury
Robson, Laura (GBR) Illness
Tanasugarn, Tamarine (THA) Illness
Williams, Venus (USA) Viral illness
Wozniak, Aleksandra (CAN) Right foot injury
McHale is the second highest ranked American! I did read something about Venus maybe getting a wild card. Not sure how that factors in?
Also, the McHale article I linked to has several quotes from her including one about the Olympics.
Clefairy: Sounds contradictory each country gets four players but they have to ranked in the top 72 or something? :/ Countries like Germany and Russia may benefit but a country like Belarus is still screwed. I need aspirin. :P
...And to brighten your day. ;)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhonda_liberman/6023943285/
Caps321: Thank you for the article link, it was very informative.
Indeed McHale has been over looked by the USTA we both have been pointing that out for quite sometime now. So McHale got a little Chinese in her, sort of. :P Right now McHale should do her climb slowly not by rushing in and playing tons of tournaments ala JJ or Bunny but by doing deep runs in tournaments and making statement victories. That'll jack her ranking.
I'm still not sold on Laura Robson, I know I should but still a naaaah.
A lot of withdrawals going on this year for each tournament.
Is Temea Babos in your radar Caps? Is so do you have more info on her? On her way to the title in Monterrey Babos defeated Errani in the semis in a tough three setter.
You turn Caps to brighten your Monday.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acafe/6203023490/
Carlos, I've never heard of Babos until today.
Tuesday (28 February)
00:00 Gajdosova - Woerle
01:30 Daniilidou - Mirza
03:00 Meusburger - Peng
05:00 C. Garcia - Jankovic
06:30 Radwanska - Amanmuradova
Garcia is going to work over JJ tomorrow morning and then Aggie will dispatch that dude.
I'll ask Clefairy the same question, do you have any info on Babos?
Nice to see Dokic snap out of her funk. She won her first round match 6-3, 6-1, after losing in the first round in her previous two tournies.
Caps, who is the top woman in your stable and how do you rank them? How bout you Clefairy, how you stock "your boys"?
...and now for a Spanish lesson, if you add the letter "A" to the last name of Babos, you would have the Spanish word "babosa" which translate into English as dimwit or stupid. :/ Whatever, Babos got my attention and I'm keeping an eye on her.
All I know of Babos is that she nearly won the Junior Grand Slam in Doubles going F W W W in 2010.
Great photo Carlos!
For me at the moment Azarenka would be top! JJ is working her way back up, as is Wickmayer. Li is slowly dropping, I guess I don't really have anyone special in my stable at the moment aside from Vika
JJ/Garcia didn't start till around 7:00 which is 2 hours later than scheduled. The lighting on this court is pure crap!
Stable:
Ostrich, Aggie, McHale, Barthel, Julia.
Hope I'm not forgetting anyone!
The current order is what I believe to be the best players. Of course Julia would rank higher but she's so damn unreliable.
However, I currently have a 'crush' on McHale & Barthel so they're the top of my 'watch' list right now.
JJ wins first set 9-7.. Garcia made crucial ball bashing errors on very important points. What a let down!
Garcia wins second set!
JJ up 1-0 in the third set and play is suspended due to rain.
I saw part of the third set between JJ/Garcia. I caught the match just when Garcia broke JJ to go up 4-3. At times the quality of tennis was good at times horrible. It was Choker vs Over The Hill.
The announcer said it was JJ's 27th birthday. Happy birthday JJ.
On court JJ looked over the hill.
Garcia, where do I begin? She had three match points, leading 5-4 serving for the match, break point JJ Garcia's serve landed on the first row giving back the break to JJ. Her toss is horrible is way behind her I thought she would get injured, and why it hasn't been corrected? The kid had three match points and she blew it. Serving at 6-5, up 40-15, she was broken again and that was the last nail on her coffin. Garcia needs to improve in a lot of areas, serve, nerves, and a little more accuracy in her shots.
Choke city for Ms. Garcia.
Looks like Aggie's match got postponed until tomorrow.
The WTA is on the Verge of a “Big 4” to Rival the ATP’s
http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/12378
Wozniacki needs a history lesson before calling out Navratilova
http://tinyurl.com/7t5aczh
Is Sharapova the Next Kournikova?
http://tinyurl.com/7sobu3r
Robson off to Las Vegas
http://tinyurl.com/85npjwz
Radwanska Eyes Olympic Glory
http://tinyurl.com/7kh6av7
Better late than never, eh?
via tennis.com
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Georgia native Melanie Oudin has moved her base to New York and is currently working at the USTA Player Development center at Flushing Meadows, the home of the U.S. Open. Oudin, who began to work with USTA coaches last fall after splitting with her longtime private coach, Brian DeVilliers, was unable to get into the qualifying draw at Indian Wells, as her ranking has fallen to No. 209.
The 20-year-old has not won a WTA main-draw match without her opponent retiring since last April, and has not won a set in four matches this year. The 2009 U.S. Open quarterfinalist is one of three prominent U.S. women now working at the facility, including No. 34 Christina McHale and No. 85 Varvara Lepchenko.—Matt Cronin
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Carlos, I noticed Aggie's match is on at 1:30am. So, that'd only be 10:30pm there!
Most likely I will be watching most of this match though:
05:00 Rogowska - Dokic
I forgot to thank Clefairy and Caps for the info on Babos.
The unofficial blogger strikes again, thanks for the articles Caps.
Article 1: A)the last player who had a better start than Mrs. Angry was Divapova in 08. It all ended for Divapova at Indian Wells with a shoulder injury. Mrs. Angry should double check that ankle of hers. B)If Aggie keeps losing to Mrs. Angry, -sorry to say this- she will become Mrs. Angry's submissive cell mate. c)I like how the article excluded the Bunny which in reality doesn't deserve to be in the top five. D)The article failed to mention Divapova has been blown out and embarrassed in her last two slam finals by her younger counterparts. E)Too early to call them the big four they need to dominate the sport first.
Article 2: Dead on! Wozniacki and her father should shut the hell up (I'm still angry what her father said a year ago). I will also add that Wozniacki played in two slams where there was no Serena or Kim so what happened there Bunny? My advice to the Bunny, go to "Clown College" you are not funny but you are very boring Zzzzzzs.
Article 3: I disagree! Did Kournikova ever made it to a slam final? No!!! Divapova was out played by Ostrich at the Wimbledon final and by Azarenka in the Aussie final. I also disagree with the article, Divapova was out played in the second set by Ostrich. The match was 4-4 in the third set until Divapova broke Ostrich. The momentum swing for Ostrich in that match came before the first set was over.
Article 4: I don't trust the Adidas guys their results have been under par (Bunny, Fist Pumping Imbecile). I think C. Garcia is more talented than Robson, (hi Captain! Wherever you are). How are the Adidas guys going to get talent out the talentless? Hi again Captain! :P
Article 5: So your eying on the gold, there, Aggie? So you now have figured out how to blast Mrs. Angry into feather-ins? I put my stock on Ostrich. My other choices are 2)Divapova 3)Serena 4)Azarenka. I bet the Aggster is angry at Azarenka because she has been kicking Aggie's butt everywhere.
Base on these articles (and there was a lot of reading) I logically conclude Aggie is the WTA version of Andy Murray.
Thanks Caps. I'll try to watch the Aggster's match.
I know, I was hard on Aggie on my previous post.
OK, so now that Mr. Oudin has moved to NY it means that she is washing McHale's car after practice. The question is, does Mr. Caps321 misses Mr. Oudin washing his car?
I hope is not too late to resuscitate Mr. Oudin's career.
Aggie's match was supposed to be the second match of the day on center court, however there is a rain delay in the first match, first set.
I read in the official WTA website Kleybanova is returning to play in Miami. That is great news and looking forward to see Alisa back on court.
she will become Mrs. Angry's submissive cell mate
hahahahaha
OK, so now that Mr. Oudin has moved to NY it means that she is washing McHale's car after practice. The question is, does Mr. Caps321 misses Mr. Oudin washing his car?
Oudin should be forced to wash Barotli's hair.
Aggie up a set and tied 3-3 in the second -- another rain delay. Aggie waited like 4 hours yesterday only to get rained out. And her match today started about 4 hours late as well. Note: Her hair is in a libraian bun and that mean's she's angry!
And of course the Dokic match got moved back as well. Guess it'll start sometime after this one is over.
I read in the official WTA website Kleybanova is returning to play in Miami. That is great news and looking forward to see Alisa back on court.
Agree! Kleybanova is a good player and if healthy, she will give a lot of top players problems.
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Irina Falconi, Sloane Stephens, Jamie Hampton, Coco Vandeweghe, Lauren Davis and Jill Craybas; and Sania Mirza and Urszula Radwanska were granted wildcards into the main draws of the BNP Paribas Open, to be held March 5-18 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by Steve Simon, tournament director.
Qualifying wildcards were given to Julia Cohen and Monica Puig.
In addition to three women’s qualifying wildcards the tournament has yet to give, the winners of each pre-qualifying tournament, which takes place February 27-March 3, will also be granted a berth into the 2012 BNP Paribas Open qualifying draw. Women’s qualifying starts March 5 and men’s qualifying begins March 6.
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Special delivery for Carlos - Its an article on Ms. Time using Google translate.
http://tinyurl.com/7r89ara
Seeing that Aggie's match was postponed yet again.. Maybe she'll wear a beehive hairdo next?
According to the schedule of play, Aggie's match starts at high noon. Which will be 11pm Pacific time tonight if my calculations are correct.. followed by Dokic.. followed by Aggie's second match of the day!
Streaming schedules aren't available for her match yet though as of 7:37pm Eastern.
Thank you so much for the special delivery Caps!
It was funny how Google Translate referred to Temea as "The Babos" and in masculine pronoun, "the major limitation is the size his body". That's how "Mr. Oudin" got started, by a journalistic typo haha. A thorough article that in some paragraphs seemed to be backwards. :P
I wonder if The Babos will team up with Sloane Stephens to play doubles in the big time to repeat his glory.
Some would view my cheering for The Babos as treachery.
In the category of useless facts, has everyone noticed how Spaniards male names is one name and one last name: Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Deliciano Lopez. Not the case with women, they have at least three names and four last names: Maria Jose Candela De La Parra Sanchez Delano Abierto. :P Last two last names "would translate" into English as "Open Anus".
If you see Aggie sporting a hair bun it would be due to Mr. Angry's influence. :P
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Peng Shuai has her heart set on winning a Grand Slam title
KUALA LUMPUR: Asian number two Peng Shuai had heart surgery when she was only 12 but that has not stopped her from reaching for the stars in her professional tennis career.
Three years after the operation, Peng Shuai turned professional in 2001 at the age of 15. A decade later, her determination to excel in the game remains undiminished.
http://tinyurl.com/6wylsuc
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While google translate is better than nothing, often times it sucks. IMO, if these websites actually had an English button then the translation would be much more accurate. However, most of them don't which leaves tennis fans without all the news because the slacker US/UK/English speaking media doesn't always pick up on foreign language news stories. And if they do, its often truncated with brief excerpts of what 'they' think you should know.
I agree 100% with you Caps!
I think Google Translate should be tweak to be a better service.
Not only U.S. media slacks in sports but in hard news as well, you never now what is going on in Africa, Asia, or Australia.
The special delivery did work because I know more about Babos and the article lead me to YouTube. There are quite a few videos of her more than Mona surprisingly.
Thank you once again for the article Caps.
Is nice to know that Peng is doing well and that her heart hasn't given her any problems. On court the problem with Peng is that she tends to choke, also I think she has not deal well with pressure of being highly rank (19th as of this week) as is the case with chokers. She is 26 years old I would say she has a couple of years of good tennis left in her. Peng caught my attention last year in January, during the year she made deep runs in quite a few tournaments but so far this year she regressed. She had not made it out the second round this year in her previous four tournaments until this tournament in Kuala Lumpur. Her game has the what it takes to win tournaments but not slams nor any other Ring Of Hell.
Peng lost in her QF match to Martic 6-4, 6(3)-7, 4-6. I'm not surprised, I had Martic winning the match.
In Acapulco all top four seeds moved on to the semis. Since the tournament started I had Errani and Pennetta in the final. BTW Pennetta hasn't been playing well.
Note to self: post predictions.
Top seed Radwanska retires during Malaysia quarterfinal; Hsieh to semis
http://tinyurl.com/7ahk4zm
I don't blame Aggie for her withdrawal, I think it was a smart move on her part. Matches were suspended again, one has to continue the rest of the QF will be played in the same day of the semis. That is asking for an injury. JJ is among those players who have to play QF and if she advances semis in the same day. Two hours of rest is not enough time to recover IMO.
Is March so the Madness is around the corner.
Once again I forgot to thank you Caps for the link.
Azarenka discovers cost of being No 1
http://tinyurl.com/6sb9k3l
****** Don't close your browser without reading the above link or it'll make you create an account to see the entire article again. (I tried deleting cookies and it still wanted me to create an account.) However, I already read it but was just making sure the tinyurl worked. I use tinyurl because this blog sometimes cuts off links and they don't work correctly if too long.
Now, we've all heard the story about Aggie and her dad but there is one missing part which I've never read anywhere before..
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Jankovic tried hard to impose her new more attacking emphasis upon an opponent who defends, contains and counter-attacks very well, but the Serb could only make it work in the middle of the match.
Radwanska remained calm through that period of pressure although she admitted to finishing tired after a contest of one hour and 43 minutes in which she did plenty of running.
She also admitted to having had arguments with her father Robert, who last year alleged that she needed "a psychiatrist, a psychologist, something like that," and with whom she has parted as a coach.
"On the court we always had a good relationship. He's a great coach and he really taught me everything. But off court we had arguments," Radwanska said.
"For sure without him I wouldn't be here on the court. But sometimes it gets too much mixing up your private life with tennis.
"Professional tennis always had a lot of stress and emotions and everything. So we just decided to practise together at home, and traveling with someone else."
http://tinyurl.com/7jwuu2a
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Ha, maybe we should start calling Aggie's dad Dr. Phil? That's not a very smart thing to say to your bread winning daughter! Besides, she's doing better without him so maybe he needs counseling to figure out when to shut his mouth.
Thanks you for the links Caps.
The first article I only read the fist couple of sentences when they wanted to me register. Looked to be a good article.
Second article, living with a relative and working with the in the same place is never a good idea. At some point everyone will be at each other throats. This is what Aggie is saying and her father should had kept his mouth shut.
Errani won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1.
Acapulco final: Errani in straight sets but I'll be rooting for Flavia.
I don't know what is going on at Kuala Lumpur. Ayumi Morita retired giving JJ a free pass to the semis. Is rain still causing delays?
Not sure what's going on in Kuala Lampur.
Seems the only way to read this Azarenka article without registering is to click through from Google News. Using tinyurl or even the absoulte url gives you the shaft!
This is the link to the google search which has it listed at the top. In case you want to read it on the actual website: http://tinyurl.com/7wog487
I will post the article in two messages because its too big.
Azarenka discovers cost of being No 1
NOBODY needs to tell Victoria Azarenka that the women's world's No 1 ranking has become a poisoned chalice in recent times, with her predecessors beset by injuries and illness or the inability to win a grand slam title.
Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic fall into the first group, Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic the second, with Dinara Safina qualifying for both categories.
Having won the Australian Open, Azarenka is at least a No 1 with the right credentials but now the injury curse has struck. The ankle she hurt two weeks ago on the way to extending her unbeaten run this year to 17 matches by winning in Qatar prevented her competing at the Dubai Open the following week.
Any pain she may be feeling is nothing compared with the anguish of a year ago, when the Belarusian tearfully rushed home from the Gulf after two disappointing defeats. Convinced she was suffering from tennis burn-out, Azarenka considered quitting the sport at 21.
"For me, it is important to enjoy every day of what I do," she said in Dubai while relaxing with her tennis-playing boyfriend, Sergei Bubka Jr, and her mother, Alla. "I felt like a snowball, rolling and rolling but having no real power in the direction it was going and not knowing how to stop. Every day I was going to practice and doing the same things. In matches, I was not competing at all and feeling despondent on court.
"I was stressing out and finally came to the decision that if I wasn't enjoying what I was doing, it was probably time to try something new."
Seeking the counsel of her family, Azarenka found a motivating voice in her 73-year-old grandmother, Nina, who survived the horrors of World War II when 85 per cent of buildings in her native Minsk were destroyed by Nazi bombing. Nina's formative years were spent under the repressive reign of Joseph Stalin and the Cold War era of Nikita Khrushchev, when the national identity of Belarus was ruthlessly subdued.
"She has always been the most influential person to me because she has gone through so much and worked so hard," said Azarenka, who was born in 1989, the year the Iron Curtain finally collapsed. "We talked about so many things but she never told me that I had a great life and should be grateful. I learnt about her jobs and what it was like for her as a child, both with the war and what happened afterwards. It made me appreciate the opportunities she never had and how people were stuck in drab existences they hated but could do nothing about. I realised I was so privileged, and nine days later was back getting ready for the tournament in Indian Wells."
A quarter-final there was followed by back-to-back titles in Miami and Marbella. Later she reached the final in Madrid, the last eight at the French Open and Wimbledon's semi-finals. Azarenka ended the season by winning the Luxembourg title and being runner-up in the WTA Championships at Istanbul.
Counting those two October events, she has won 25 of her past 28 matches, justifying her peak ranking, and it's a position she intends to enjoy.
"It feels different in that people want to know a lot more about me and I know now I'm No 1 there will be added incentive to beat me. But after what I learnt last year, it's important to have enjoyment and contentment.
"I'm being sensible about getting the ankle right and doing the correct things. But I don't feel any pressure. I'm looking forward to defending the title in Miami, one of the biggest events on the regular tour. I'm excited about the French Open and Wimbledon. After that, of course, there are the Olympics, and they are a very big deal for anyone who comes from my country. It's a good time to be No 1."
Azarenka admits she is a perfectionist. She likes to cook and after being given the recipe for zapekanka (a Russian form of cheesecake eaten for breakfast) she baked two a day for a week to get it just right. More recently she has become obsessed with photography. "It's something we are subjected to a lot and many people want to take shots of me, so I figured let's turn the tables."
She is also one of the loudest grunters on tour and has a quick response for anybody who cares to quiz her on the subject.
"I ask them if they snore when they are asleep, and then say can't they do anything to stop. It's a similar situation, it's something I've done since I started playing tennis and it's impossible to stop. I'm not trying to put my opponent off. I'm sorry people don't like it but I'm not that happy when I sit on a flight and the person next to me is snoring."
The depth of Azarenka's friendship with Wozniacki, the player she replaced as No 1, shows rivals can be cordial. They are neighbours in Monte Carlo but agree never to talk tennis when they socialise. Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska was a member of the friendly circle until the recent Doha semi-final, when the Pole believed her opponent feigned an ankle injury before recovering to win. The two have not spoken since, and Radwanska, who won the tournament in Dubai, beating Julia Goerges of Germany 7-5 6-4 last weekend, said: "I lost a lot of respect. I was angry because of what was going on there, I don't think this is a great image for women's tennis."
Azarenka refuses to be drawn on the subject. "I still see her as a friend, but what could I do? I wouldn't have pulled out this week if I wasn't hurting. I don't believe in making comments about opponents. There are so many people on this planet that there are bound to be conflicting opinions and there's nothing more that can be said."
Most No 1s admit there is a learning process involved before becoming comfortable with the position. What has to be appreciated is they become the hunted rather than one of a group of hunters. Success, as Victoria Azarenka is finding out, comes at a price.
Thank you for posting the entire article Caps.
What I learn is that Azarenka's grandmother is her shrink.
If she keeps getting "pissed off" on court the crowd will turn on her in a second, because people in general tend to root for the underdog.
Is clearly that Aggie and Azarenka are not seeing eye to eye. The tension between this two has a enough fuel to explode.
As I said, the next match between Bird & Aggie will be must see!
I understand Bunny & Bird hang out because they live near each other. Perhaps Bunny & Aggie only hang out on vacations or when on the tour.
Should be interesting to see what Bunny does if she has to choose between Bird & Aggie. That said, I think Aggie is of course better 'friends' with her sister so it wouldn't matter either way.
Bunny will down play everything and will keep hanging with this two separately.
The majority of tennis players live in Monaco to avoid taxes. I know it is must to be (live) in Monaco for a certain period in a year. I don't know how long though. Mrs Angry and Bunny may be neighbors but there is the possibility that they never see each other.
Mrs. Angry will take her anger out on Aggie the next time they face each other in court, an advice to Aggie don't wear a hair bun that will only infuriate Mrs. Angry even more. Off court Mrs. Angry will avoid Aggie at all cost and vice versa, the Indian Wells player's party should be interesting.
Currently licking my chops in anticipation of the Indian Wells draw(s)..
Just visited Mona Barthel's website:
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1.3.: Tomorrow I am going to fly to Indian Wells. It is the first time, I play this tournament. I am looking forward to playing tennis matches again.
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Not sure if she's in the main draw or has to go through qualis again. Btw, her 'tour tracker' also says Miami!
http://tennis.quickfound.net/
Says:
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The Indian Wells draws are not yet available as of this writing (the qualifying draw for this tourney might not be up until Sunday evening, the main draw might not be posted until Monday afternoon, possibly later). The links are above for your convenience when the draws become available. Main draw play begins on Wednesday.
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Haven't seen anything posted on my facebook wall from McHale. Not sure what her current status might be. And Aggie's twitter feed is basically useless as she almost never says anything on it.
Plus, I don't see any new posts on Aggie's facebook page either.
I'm rolling the red carpet for the women in my harem who are playing at Indian Wells...
...BTW at the I.W. player's party all of those who are in my harem (except Ostrich who is the main girl at the Stable) shall sport hair buns and whatever they wear should be of the colors red, white, and black or the combination of the three. Cause that's how Mr Angry rolls. XP
Creepy, egostistical, moment over. :P
Caps, Mona will NOT have to play qualifiers at I.W. The top 32 ranked players get a first round bye; the next 32 ranked players, play the first round; and 12 qualifiers get into the main draw. Maybe Clefairy can correct me or add some more input.
Errani won Acapulco in three sets 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-0. I didn't see the match but looking at the score no kidding Pennetta ran out of gas.
I don't think Mona is playing Indian Wells, instead playing the ITF event Nassau which runs in the second week of Indian Wells. I must also say that Nassau has a stronger field than most WTA International event!
EDIT just saw Caps post about Mona! I imagine she will surely be playing main draw and I think Carlos' is right with the 32/32 and 12
Clefairy, have you recover completely?
Still not 100% but a lot better than what I was. Hopefully much better for IW/Miami and Emily has finally decided to book a plane ticket home! :P
I'm glad to hear you are doing better *sending you good vibes for your quick recovery*.
I was picturing the Captain high atop the Alps, being there for fourty days and fourty nights, meditating, not showering nor shaving. Finally coming down with a stone tablet -not the IPad 3- with all the rules for this blog. :P
BECK COLUMN: Radwanska likely top seed for FCC
http://tinyurl.com/6vds893
Bunny isn't entered in the Family Circle Cup??
Of course, Radwanska's game is worth watching. Although maybe a little unorthodox in her style of play, the 22-year-old Polish woman makes up for it with her uncanny tennis savvy. She ranks among the best to come along in her ability to simply outmaneuver an opponent. Her play reminds observers of Martina Hingis.
Latest from Mona Barthel:
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3.3.: We arrived yesterday in Indian Wells. I practiced today, the tennis resort is really beautiful, surrounded by mountains, which lookes like a wallpaper. I saw my first cockroach in the bathroom of my hotel room. Together with my mother, armed with champagne bucket, clothes hangers and sneakers, I finally killed it. This insect was running really fast.
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Thank you Caps for the links.
The article points out what we been saying about Aggie for a while.
Bunny is afraid to see Licki B. on court again.
Mona, A)it sounds more like she was in a cheap motel than in a hotel. B)Where is a bug bomb when you need one. C)Mona wouldn't want to live where I lived, and D)I want the video of that battle. :P
Good Monday Morning to you Clefairy. Only because you are sick...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaluis/5595706502/
Hope to put a smile in your face.
Indian Wells qualis:
http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/posting/2012/609/QS.pdf
That is one BIG qualifying draw!
Yes it is Caps, and Miami has the same number of qualifiers to the main draw. Miami has the same format as Indian Wells 32/32 and 12. FYI there are more qualifiers at Indian Wells and Miami than at Grand Slams, except qualifiers go through an extra round of qualies at slams.
I noticed your Caroline Garcia got a WC for qualies, Caps.
Lets see if the two Twits...I mean Brits, Laura Robson and Heather Watson can finally show the talent that I keep hearing about.
...and after several withdrawals some chick won Kuala Lumpur, her opponent retired during the third set of the finals.
Good Monday Morning Mr. Caps.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wearetennis/6841380869/in/photostream/
As of March 5, 2012
Goerges, Julia 15 (16)
Kerber, Angelique 19 (20)
Pavlyuchenkova, Anastasia 20 (15)
Pennetta, Flavia 25 (29)
Safarova, Lucie 28 (25)
Errani, Sara 31 (36)
McHale, Christina 35 (34)
Peer, Shahar 40 (41)
Begu, Irina-Camelia 46 (53)
Gajdosova, Jarmila 52 (45)
Martic, Petra 55 (66)
Daniilidou, Eleni 66 (81)
Hsieh, Su-Wei 78 (123)
Cadantu, Alexandra 79 (82)
Rybarikova, Magdalena 83 (95)
Govortsova, Olga 87 (78)
Gallovits-Hall, Edina 96 (103)
Dokic, Jelena 118 (76)
Jovanovski, Bojana 119 (111)
Dulko, Gisela 126 (98)
Oudin, Melanie 223 (209)
Ten players have been named to a short list to receive the first four Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heat Awards of 2012. Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, American Christina McHale, Samantha Stosur of Australia and Roberta Vinci of Italy have been short-listed for the World Group/World Group II award. Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson and Elena Baltacha of Great Britain have been short-listed for Europe/Africa; Catalina Castano of Colombia and Florencia Molinero of Argentina for Americas; and Li Na of China and Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan for Asia/Oceania. The awards will be presented based on performances in the Fed Cup World Group and World Group II first-round ties, and the three Zone Group I events that were played at the beginning of February. The public will determine the winners by voting at FedCup.com and
http://www.fedcup.com/en/misc/heart-award-vote.aspx
Balloting runs until March 22. All four winners will receive a silver Baccarat bracelet and a check to be donated to their chosen charity.
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Polish tennis star Agnieszka Radwanska is the third highest earning woman in the sport this year.
The Cracovian champion, who won the Dubai Championships last month, is currently placed No.5 in the overall WTA Tour rankings, her best rating to date.
Radwanska, who will turn 23 on Tuesday, has earned a fraction over 832,000 dollars ( 2.6 million zloty) since January.
The top earner this season is currently Belarussian Victoria Azarenka, who has made 2.9 million dollars (9 million zloty), followed by Russian Maria Sharapova at 1.2 million dollars (3.7 million zloty).
After Agnieszka Radwanska, the next highest Polish figure on the list is her own sister Urszula, the younger of the two siblings.
Urszula Radwanska comes in at 78th place in the ranking of highest earners, with just under 58, 000 dollars (181,000 zloty).
http://tinyurl.com/7agsonm
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IW singles draw is out:
http://www.wtatennis.com/page/Draws/0,,12781,00.html
Possible second round:
Bunny vs Makarova
Divapova vs Dokic
Barthel vs Bird (You've got to be kidding me. Talk about crap luck for Mona.)
Vesnina vs McHale
Zheng vs. Ula
Possible third round:
Ostrich vs McHale
Bartoli vs Kanepi
I'm sure someone around here can do a much better job looking at this gigantic draw! Guess I've been checking out the $37,000 tournaments for too long..
Radwanska sisters: $$$
Not voting, I never do.
Basically there are three draws: qualies, top half, and bottom half. Caps think of it as a mini slam.
Makaruchi can put herself on the map by boiling the Bunny.
My conspiracy theory is that the draws are rigged. Dokic made those claims back in the early 2000's to which Vacaport...I mean Davenport said it was a ridiculous accusation. Oh yeah? Than why the same players keep facing each other, Mona/Angry Bird for example. How about King/Nasti Pav as a possible second match, King finished off Nasti at the AO 12.
I checked Nasti's Pav record for this year. She has played in five tournaments, lost in the first round three times, and twice in the second round. Seriously?
Laura Robson is like Coco.
Is time for Mona to step it up and give hell Mrs. Angry.
Mona says:
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6.3.: I got used to the time difference and to the courts as well. In the first round I have to face Jill Craybas, I never played against her before. Once again we had a cockroach in our room, so we got another room now. Hopefully we will have none of these uninvited guests.
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Sounds like an infestation!
My conspiracy theory is that the draws are rigged.
I agree with that.
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In the opening match, Sharapova rolled through Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-4.
It was all amusing, in that slightly forced way that seems to characterize all of Wozniacki's otherwise exemplary efforts to reach out and engage. This girl seems hellbent on replacing Kim Clijsters as the quintessential "nice girl" of the WTA. Sharapova, god bless her for her authenticity, still has the other end of the spectrum well-covered.
http://blogs.tennis.com/tennisworld/2012/03/tk.html
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Thank you for all the links Caps.
Mona should move out of that cheap motel and into a real hotel; and I hope she gets used to another time difference which begins on Sunday. :P
I do agree that Wozniacki tries too hard. A person that has an innate ability doesn't force him/herself, it comes out naturally. In the case of Wozniacki she pushes herself to be funny, looks scripted not spontaneous, mechanical not fluid, peculiar behavior not comedic genius. To me she also comes out as someone who is showing off her boyfriend and that too comes out forced. Feels awkward, the kind when a stranger walks to a person and all of the sudden the stranger hugs the person. It could be the awkwardness of a publicity stunt.
Divapova is as friendly and warm as the Siberian winter. Out of all people in the stadium she picks someone in a suit. Perhaps a top corporate executive? :P
Sloane Stephens' star starting to rise
http://tinyurl.com/7o3p4bo
Mona can move into my house which is roach/rent free! But, her mom will have to find other accommodations. We need some 'alone time' to work on her game.
Aaaaah Mr. Caps you are always beating me to the punch, but not this time. Since Mona is at Indian Wells she can come over and stay at my place, which is geographically closer than your house. :P
Thanks for the link Caps.
I'm not so convinced with Sloane Stephens. I saw her match against Kuznetsova in AO 12. Like the new crop of Americans she still waits for her opponents to make mistakes. Kuznetsova had a lot of unforced errors in that match, it wasn't Svetlana's best tennis (but that is more common as time is progressing in her career). Sloane had her chances and like Caroline Garcia blew it. She needs experience at this stage so I'll give her a pass for now. The test will be at Indian Wells, she gets a qualifier in the first round and a second round face off with Kerbey. I want to see that offense that mommy talked about. Too many young female Americans are playing the "Wozniacki School Of Tennis" that's not pretty nor to my liking.
Looks like Garcia & Bojangles both got punked out in qualis.
Mona Barthel interview/Q&A:
http://tinyurl.com/7umm827
WITHDRAWALS
Indian Wells
Chakvetadze, Anna (RUS) Back injury
Clijsters, Kim (BEL) Left ankle injury
Marino, Rebecca (CAN) Personal reasons
Petkovic, Andrea (GER) Low back injury
4 photos of Ula/Julia at IW draw ceremony:
http://www.daylife.com/search/photos/1/grid?q=goerges
Both Garcia and Bojangles got dumped in the first round of qualies.
Thanks for the links Caps. Mona is cute in interviews and cute everywhere else.
I looked at the draws didn't see The Babos in it. What happened there? Desert sand scare the "Magical Magyar"?
Ur Rad, does she looks like a blond ambition or an ambitious blond?
Since now I become a forgetful person, I blame everything on the Captain's absence :P I forgot about doubles. So without due...
Mr. Angry's Double Talk.
The number one to the semis.
The Princes is pairing up with Petrova once again, they are seeded fourth. They will face McHale/Hampton in the first round. I see the Russians winning easily over the Americans. Second round one to watch, a possible match with the Czechs Benesova/Crazy Czech. Also in their bracket the Aussies Dellacqua/Mr. Stosur they have a possible second round match -and another match to keep an eye on- with King's team. I like the Princess team to go through the semis.
The next quarter is interesting Mrs. Angry is pairing up with Ostrich. I don't know if Ostrich is good in doubles or not, but I'm guessing both want to study each other. If they move on they will face the fifth seeded Italians Errani/Vinci in the second round. Also Julia G/Licki B. are teaming up in this quarter, will face the American team of Kops-Jones/Spears. I see Spears team winning this match, their reward will be facing the third seed of the "H" Czech team. Maybe I'm biased but I see Spears team moving to the semis.
Last quarter there is interesting first round match of sixth seed Flavia/Anabel vs WC Dulko/Suarez. This is the first time that the Argentines play on hard courts, they have progressed but not sold on them at all. I still see them as a waste of time and I don't think hard courts or grass,suit their game. Another match to watch is a possible encounter of Kuznetsova/Vera vs the number two seed Vesnina/Mirza. I see Vera's team moving to the semis but don't be surprised if Flavia/Anabel pull the upset in the QF. I think the Russians move on by over powering the opposition.
Either happens this way or my double talk is a waste of time. :P I Would also love to see Clefairy's input.
I forgot all about the doubles draw! Interesting that Goerges isn't teaming with Zheng again. She posted a photo on twitter a while back and seemed to be having a good time with references to Jay Z.
Wow, Ostrich & Bird seems like a tough team to beat. Would've never thought they would team up and haven't heard of Ostrich in doubles before.
Why did McHale team with Hampton? Did she need another 'USA' player to get the wild card? IMO, she needs to be setting her sights higher with a better player regardless of nationality.
Looks like Peer/DUSHEVINA are going to get jungle stomped by Vesnina/Mirza in the first round. YEAH!
Ula looks mighty ripe in those photos. Too bad they're cropped or we could see the whole package.
n37 Mona Barthel GER d n146 wc Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-2 Wed
*n99 wc Jamie Hampton USA d n38 Polona Hercog SLO 6-0, 6-1 Wed
*n48 Sorana Cirstea ROU d n43 Iveta Benesova CZE 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) Wed
*n69 Carla Suarez Navarro ESP d n44 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-4, 6-2 Wed
n45 Jarmila Gajdosova AUS d n156 wc Coco Vandeweghe USA 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 Wed
*n52 Galina Voskoboeva KAZ d n46 Marina Erakovic NZL 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 Wed
n51 Klara Zakopalova CZE d n93 Laura Pous-Tio ESP 6-1, 6-1 Wed
*n73 Kimiko Date-Krumm JPN d n60 Pauline Parmentier FRA 6-1, 6-3 Wed
n61 Elena Baltacha GBR d n98 Arantxa Rus NED 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Wed
*n333 sr47 Timea Bacsinszky SUI d n79 Anne Keothavong GBR 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 Wed
Thank you for your doubles input Caps!
Last year Ostrich teamed up with the Diminutive One to play doubles. All I know is that they lost in the first round. Sadly no photos were found from "Team Twins".
McHale/Hampton lost in straight sets 6-7(5), 4-6.
I already lost one of the semifinalist. Kops-Jones/Spears lost to The Germans J. Goerges/Licki B. 6-2, 6-7(2), 10-7. I been high on Spears team but this is the second time they lose in the first round in an important tournamet, AO 12 being the other one. These ladies aren't ready for the big time, a big fail and out of my good graces.
Wow! So Mona had a practice session with Craybas, 48 minutes in total. Did she even break a sweat?
On the other hand there were a few battles out there: It took Galina 2 hours and 37 minutes to win over Ekarovic. In another 2:37 battle Urszula lost to Krajicek, (sorry Caps); and in a 2 hour and five minute as mentioned by you Caps, Jarmilla defeated Coco and in a 2 hour and 45 minutes Sorana advanced.
Vesnina advanced to the second round in a straight set victory over Dellacqua 6-4, 7-5.
Special mention: Vania King did it once again this time beating someone who is my radar, Sara Errani, by the score of 7-6(3), 6-4. Don't know what happened Errani was leading 3-1 in the second set. King is becoming the hit woman for my favs. BTW I thought she was 30 but she is only 23 one younger than Errani.
Matt Cronin: Vika and Aga - Friends or Foes
http://tinyurl.com/7n2whu3
Woz fails yet again
http://youtu.be/hP4-JlxSYj8
Mona says:
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7.3.: I played a solid match today against Jill Craybas, especially I served well.
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Ula is a choker!
Thanks for the links.
I just gotta kick how Divapova pointed to the Bunny's interview area kinda like saying, "Don't bug me mosquito, go back to your play pen". What's up with the Diva's hair bun? O_0
Aggie: I still say Aggie is bitter that Mrs. Angry is kicking her butt on court and she is taking her frustration off court. Seems Mrs. Angry out of all people wants to make peace but Aggie is not letting it go. This teenage drama angst will explode when this two face each other in the QF, if both get there. I didn't know Aggie was this resentful, on the other hand the Bunny is sticking her head in the sand and repeating to herself, 'This is not happening, this is not happening...'
In the category "I want to waste everyone's time", Divapova is NOT 6'2 as she claims, in the photos that she was next to Federer (while in NY for the exhibition match vs Bunny) she looked shorter than Federer, and the man is 6'1. I want to see Divapova standing next to the Captain to see if the Diva is really 6'2. But I give Divapova credit for that big butt of hers. :P
Caps, is Ula in your Stable or is she only the Stable's eye candy?
Ula is just a cute girl that happens to be Aggie's sister...for now.
Peer gets worked over 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 by #115 Lesia Tsurweko!
YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!
Halep over Zhang 6-1, 6-1.
Dulko over Dokic 1-0 Retired.
Three retirements today the aforementioned Dokic, Dulgheru, and Arn. There still time for more. :/
How about this: Ostrich/Mrs. Angry beat their opponents Grandin/Uhlirova 6-2, 6-2.
Caps, where can online stream for this tournament?
Tennis Channel.com says they don't start until Saturday the 10th. And that's the same date on the streaming site. I guess they don't wanna show a whole bunch of lame matches since there are so many 'byes' in this tournament.
That said, the UK channels might have their own commentators but its usually a 'pool' feed. So, if no one is broadcasting (yet) there is no feed to use.
Christina McHale, tennis player from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, talks about her efforts to make the U.S. Olympic team.
You can stream the mp3 podcast or download it for later. Not a whole lot of new information or anything but McHale's voice is mighty sweet!
http://www.wnyc.org/people/christina-mchale/
The schedule of play isn't out for tomorrow. But, I suppose Bird/Barthel will be playing and there will be no video...
Just checked on tennistv.com and they aren't starting until the 10th either. Of course tennistv is lame because they don't show the finals of this tournament in the US due to blackout restrictions and no majors.
Finally, of course if this tournament was held outside of the US we could probably watch every single match or at least a couple courts.
Thanks Caps, I guess we are out luck. You are right if this tournament was over seas we would be watching some matches. I think if WTA officials ever think of moving this tournament, they would first consider Carson.
Another surprise in doubles Dulko/Suarez over Flavia/Anabel 3-6, 6-3, 10-7 Booooooooooooooo!
Suarez team is improving but I don't like Dulko. This close on giving her a nasty nickname.
In more late news Makaruchi advanced to the second round by beating Bethanie 6-2, 6-3. Now all Makaruchi has to do is boil the Bunny.
Divapova will embarrass Dulko again.
Friday you got:
Vesnina vs McHale...I'm taking Bambi.
Aggie vs. Sorana...I take Aggie, she better win or she will feel my wrath.
King vs Nasti Pav...Slump vs Making Progress. Pick em.
Kerbey vs Sloane Stephens...Kerbey, too much on court time for Sloane and Kerbey being a better fresher player.
Jarmila vs Wicki...I'm taking Wicki by tradition.
Flavia vs Navarro ...I take Flavia also by tradition but Navarro is capable of the upset.
Ostrich vs Crazy Czech...Ostrich enough said
Mona vs Angry Bird...Unless the Snap, Crackle, And Pop of 2011 rears her head Mona loses. An advice to Mona, do not wear a hair bun nor the colors of red, white, and black (together) it makes Mrs. Angry, well, angrier.
JJ vs Jamie Hampton...JJ I'm going with the veteran which still has some fuel left on her tank.
Galina vs Na...Na I want to see if this Galina chick is the real deal or just hype.
"My goal is to make a final full season. And if I is in the top 8 before the last appointment of the year, I intend to go, "she acknowledged on the VRT.
Looks like Kimmie still has some tennis left to play. Not sure if she's playing the French Open though. The google translation was sorta dodgy.
Hmmmm not sure about that. The older Kim gets the more easily she gets injured. It seems after she returned from her retirement Kim has spent 50% of the time on tour 50% on recovering from injuries. Kim can climb to the rankings easily by doing a deep a deep run at a slam which she is more than capable of doing.
Goerges d. Baltacha 6-3, 6-2
Hampton d. JJ 6-4, 6-3
McHale over Vesnina 6-3, 7-5
Probably get to see McHale's match against Ostrich since coverage starts tomorrow but things aren't looking good for Barthel's prospects in the next round. However, if she sends Bird home I will be very happy.
Mona lost the first set 6-4.. She was neck 'n neck up until 3-3.
Believe it or not, Bird choked up a 5-1 lead in the second set! And now Mona is leading 6-5.
Onto the tiebreak -- MONA WINS IT 7-4!!!!!!!!!!!
Since I'm only able to watch the scoreboard.. It seems to me Mona's return game is giving Bird problems.
Bird aces - 0
Mona aces - 4
Bird double faults - 4
Mona double faults - 5
Bird break points won - 3/3
Mona break points won - 2/5
Jarmila d. Wiki
Zakopalova d. Dani
Mona was up 4-1 in the third set and all the sudden its 6-6.
Mona LOSES 8-6 in the third set. Well, even though I didn't get to watch.. This was a much better effort than the last match.
Match time - 3:00
Wicki has finally made out of my harem.
I can only hope Mona/Angry Bird match was a high quality match and not a chocker vs chocker classic.
Note: Mona was wearing a hair bun nor the colors red, white, and black. Nice to see she is listening to me. :P
Sloane choke after having double match point and ending up losing the match to Kerbey.
Doubles:Vesnina/Mirza over Peer team. Caps321's evil laugh is heard through out the entire U.S.. :P
Tomorrow:
Makaruchi over Bunny.
Divapova humilates Dulko, again.
Bird also had 12 double faults.
Mona:
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9.3.: An unbelievable match against Azarenka, I enjoyed it a lot playing on the center court in front of an amazing crowd against the world no. 1. I played some good tennis today, but she won the points in the important moments. Unfortunately I couldn't win today, but I learned a lot from this match and I'm looking forward to the next tournament in Miami.
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“I stayed really calm, I think,” she said. “But, yeah, she’s ranked No. 1 and she really kept fighting for every point. So yeah, she deserved to win.”
Barthel also knew enough to know, like Donald Rumsfeld, what she didn’t know.
“How do you explain that so many girls from Germany are playing so well now?”
Barthel: “Um, I don’t know.”
“What are your goals you want to achieve this year?”
Barthel: “Um, I don’t know.”
http://tinyurl.com/7wlfmhw
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Azarenka: Don’t mess with my karaoke
http://tinyurl.com/7dayh2w
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I'm taking Makarova as well!
Just looked at the streaming schedule and I don't see ANY women's matches! Then again, Tennis Channel loves dudes. I'll check later but wouldn't be surprised if this stands.
n12 s10 Francesca Schiavone ITA d n115 q Lesia Tsurenko RUS 6-2, 6-4 Sat
*n113 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP d n13 s11 Sabine Lisicki GER 6-1, 6-4 Sat
n17 s15 Ana Ivanovic SRB d n67 Johanna Larsson SWE 6-1, 6-2 Sat
n18 s16 Dominika Cibulkova SVK d n95 Magdalena Rybarikova SVK 2-1 retired—gastrointestinal illness Sat
n23 s21 Roberta Vinci ITA d n75 Silvia Soler-Espinosa ESP 6-3, 6-3 Sat
*n55 Sofia Arvidsson SWE d n28 s26 Monica Niculescu ROU 6-3, 6-3 Sat
*n50 Simona Halep ROU d n30 s28 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-2, 6-4 Sat
*n47 Chanelle Scheepers RSA d n31 s29 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-3, 6-2 Sat
Four upsets today already!
TennisChannel.com says Bunny will be in action as if she's going to be broadcast. Perhaps its going to be a tape delay. Not sure if streaming will pick it up or not.. Would love to see Makarova beat her.
Ula should watch Halep's matches and learn what it takes to be a 'prospect' in my stable.
Thanks for links Caps.
Good article on Mrs. Angry/Mona match sadly it was a choker vs choker match. Aaaaaah the Fascist Bush regime, who misses those times? I wonder why Mona didn't want to answer that question?
Second article: Mrs. Angry Bird loves the spotlight, to be the center of attention, to be the main focus. If anyone even dares to step on her shadow she will go 'psycho bitch' on you. Yes, she is too an attention whore.
Unfortunately Bunny trashed Makaruchi 6-2, 6-0.
Whike Lisicki stick is sinking like Enron, Mona is steadily moving up.
*Stock
“What’s up with no joking? You think if you’re No. 1 you have to be serious?” Azarenka said. “It’s personality. Players, kids in school, they have to show their own personality. They shouldn’t be afraid to show who they are. People will judge, people will say whatever they think, but I think it’s important to show who you are. You’re not afraid of what people say because it’s just who you are.”
I agree with that part from Bird. However, Bunny made an ass of herself at #1 and is now doing it as #4.
I wonder why Mona didn't want to answer that question?
Mona is young & tender and probably doesn't even recall Rummy! She was only like 13 in 2004.
Finally, some women's action:
14:00 Kerber - King
17:30 Azarenka - Kuznetsova
18:30 Kvitova - McHale (According to schedule of play, this is not before 7:30pm Eastern) So, I guess the time change was was messed up.)
21:30 Hampton - Gajdosova
23:30 Pennetta - Radwanska
Caps, I would agree with Angry Bird's statement in general. In her case she has a team that I'm sure is advising her on how to handle situations, behave, and say the right things in public and the media. In other words her personality is pre-packaged, the few times she shows her true personality when she gets "pissed off".
I'll give the young, tender, sweet, yet coquettish, Mona, an embarrassing lesson in American history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPe1OiKQuk
Lets see if King can pull an upset, I say no. This can be her tournament if she pulls it off.
Caps' Aggie over Flavia.
The King match was postponed due to illness or something. Not sure if its a walkover or not. But, I did get to watch Goerges' match instead!
Bird & Kuzzie coming up.
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Shahar Pe’er is set to drop out of the world’s top-50 for the first time since September 2009 after falling to a 4-6, 6- 3, 7-5 defeat to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko (115) in the first round in Indian Wells on Thursday night.
Pe’er (40) will lose the valuable ranking points she picked by reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells last year after dropping a lead of a set and a break against Tsurenko.
http://tinyurl.com/7knamjd
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Carlos did you see these two articles on tennis.com? Imbecile basically through the Adidas coaching team under the bus and Bunny is crying about not being able to play smaller tournaments. (Even though she will most likely play Charleston because Diva is going to a different venue.)
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Wozniacki: WTA scheduling too restrictive
http://tinyurl.com/82vzkjg
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Ivanovic: Bad '08 decision not all my fault
http://tinyurl.com/77fovo6
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+threw
Guess you know by now McHale won against Ostrich! Sure, Ostrich was making plenty of errors but what's new?
Very, very happy for Christina McHale! (Ostrich doesn't need me to be happy for her -- she's already a superstar.)
Probably won't be watching Aggie's match as Fedex just started.
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McHale has now posted seven victories against top 20 players.
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Caps, I had not read those articles until you gave the link to them. The only tennis websites I visit are this one and the official WTA site.
Bunnny is throwing another bitch fit because now she can't play in the tons of tournaments that she wants and due to this restrictions she can't rack up points and regain the top spot. She gets her jollies by quantity and not by quality. If Bunny didn't know this by now all other sports have schedules and no one plays more or less than anyone else, unlike tennis. I have talked about this topic with Captain M.I.A. Look at the schedules of baseball, soccer/football, hockey, basketball; they all are in uniform, they all play the same amount of games.
Fist Pumping Imbecile: These are the true colors of the Imbecile, to save her "legacy" -as I have said previously- she will blame anyone and anything. The Imbecile will never take responsibility for her failures and any excuse from her is to satisfy her ego and to clean her tarnished "legacy". She never explained why she lost in the third round at Wimbledon right after she won RG. Was it upper respiratory illness? BTW Serbia had a historic win at the Fed Cup this year the one player missing from that team? Yep, you guess it, Imbecile! The other side of the coin -as I been pointing out- the Adidas guys are not that good at coaching, (look at the results of Nasti Pav and Laura Robson at I.W. 12 after they spent time with them) but to be fair to them, they get players who are better suited on a psychologist couch or the talentless and over hyped. You get the formula of head cases and bad coaching which equals a big fine mess. I think the scenario was: Imbecile was hurt mildly the Adidas guys concluded it wasn't a big thing. When failure ensued Imbecile blamed her injury and subsequently the Adidas guys; and the Adidas guys couldn't help her out her downward spiral.
Bambi mauls Ostrich in three sets. 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Wooooooooooooooooooo!
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McHale's serve, which she has focused on intensively in recent months, was as effective as I’ve ever seen it. On important points, she repeatedly clocked it at 111-, 112-, 113-m.p.h., and she mixed the flat one down the T with a clever, and much slower, slider out wide into the deuce court. The combination was impressive to the point of amazing, coming from someone who is 5-foot-7, 127 pounds. So much for Big Babe tennis; with the right service motion, a little babe can fire a missile just as fast. It was McHale’s serve, as much as anything else, that began to shift the tide at the start of the second set. After being hit off the court in the first, she steadied herself by getting some free points with her first delivery.
Afterward, the shy, even-keel McHale didn’t want to speculate about her future; she’ll “take it one match at a time,” thank you very much. But she did allow herself one moment to strut today. Up 5-3 and 40-0 in the third, with three match points, the percentage player’s percentage player ended a long rally by floating a cocky drop shot from behind the baseline and into a wide open front court, where it kicked elegantly away from a stunned Kvitova.
McHale, who moves on to play Angelique Kerber and moves, slow and steady, up to No. 31 in the world, said the idea just popped into her head during the rally. She sounded a little sheepish about it later.
“After I was thinking, I mean, ‘What was I thinking doing a drop shot on that point?' But it worked.”
http://tinyurl.com/8yz9ra9
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I was tricked on the Mona Barthel presser following her match with Bird.. Here is her REAL answers:
http://tinyurl.com/6lovpzl
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Bambi's interview after beating Vesnina:
http://tinyurl.com/7xv65zf
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Indian Wells are a bunch of slackers. They don't even have the transcript up from Bambi's presser after beating Ostrich. Plus, I see no video, just audio but its all from previous years.
14:00 Stosur - Petrova
17:30 Halep - Sharapova (Only match I'm watching.)
19:30 Ivanovic - Pervak
21:00 Arvidsson - Wozniacki
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Q. How good a prospect do you think Barthel is?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, I mean, she has great results this year, and I know her for a long time because we just live half an hour away in Germany and I have been playing with her club matches in Germany.
Well, she's a very talented girl. She has good eyes on court. She has almost beaten here Vika and had some great results already this year, so she's gonna be definitely dangerous in the future.
Q. How old were you two when you started playing each other?
JULIA GOERGES: Aye‑yi‑yi.
Q. Does it go way back?
JULIA GOERGES: Yeah, it was regional championships. It was club matches and nothing really special. But I think I was like 17 or something, 16, 17. She was 14 or 15. Could be also differently, but I would guess like that.
Q. We were talking to Mona here the other day, and she said she thinks it's coincidence that all of you German women are big women. Is it? One can think that Germany has encouraged big girls to play tennis.
JULIA GOERGES: Well, I wouldn't say we are big girls, but we are maybe good players.
Q. You're not little.
JULIA GOERGES: We are not little, that's true.
I mean, Mona I think has been like that already for a long time, and she was always taller than me. I don't think I'm not that small. But, no, I wouldn't say we are big players.
I mean, we are good players and we are doing a pretty good job right now, and hopefully it stays like that.
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Had to bypass that Indian Wells site for transcripts and went directly to the source which also has Bambi, Ostrich, Bird.
http://tinyurl.com/7qbcn9q
Getting a little bored with this Halep/Diva match going to catch up on television shows.
Thanks for the links Caps.
Mona: Mommy came to the rescue? You know, if she would have had Imbecile's draw she moves on to the semis without dropping a set.
Bambi: I was impress with her court coverage, footwork and stamina. I picked up the match on the second set, and she was running tracking down shots. I have to say Ostrich helped Bambi with the unforced errors which was the last nail in Ostrich's coffin. You could tell by the amount of times that she was squatting in frustration after an unforced error. I agree, Bambi's cross court shots are sweet.
I like Bambi and Mona a lot on and off court.
In this tournament you are getting a retirement or a walkover every day since day one of the main draw.
Doubles: Suarez/Dulko keep moving on this time by retirement. I also lost another semis team, Princess/Petrova lost Crazy Czech team 7-6(5), 6-4. In singles Princess and Petrova will face each other in the fourth round, hmmmmmm. Italians Errani/Vinci over Ostrich/Mrs. Angry W.O. Hmmmmmmm.
Today I'll take:
Bambi in three over Kerbey. Expect lots or court coverage between this two, aka long rallies.
Princess in three over Petrova. When two Russians play usually is a crap match. Knowing how this two choke I don't expect to be a classic, but a classic choking match.
Divapova in two, Vinci has no shot unless the Diva retires or walkover.
Safarova in three, Sponge Bart will falter.
Aggie in three, Hamptom will get a boost from the home crowd but not enough to over come the Aggster.
Mrs. Angry in two sets over Julia G.
We have another Imbecile and Bunny match. Imbeciltes rejoice once again.
I didn't post yesterday but here you go: How comfortable is to play tennis in a thong?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7863933@N04/3400876622/
BTW did Lucie Safarova got in the exclusive club called The Stable, Caps?
Caps, any news where The Babos is?
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who lost yesterday to teenage American Christina McHale, withdrew from her doubles today with symptoms of the virus.
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Environment right for Radwanska
Agnieszka Radwanska hopes to earn a doctorate one day in the field of tourism. For now, she's mastering the art of tennis, soaring to a career-high fifth in the rankings.
"I didn't really think that I could be No. 5 at the moment, at the beginning of the year," Radwanska, who was 14th at the end of last March, said in a telephone interview. "I'm very happy about that."
"I've known Tomasz for around 10 years, and it's good to have someone that knows how I'm practicing, what I'm doing, what I'm not doing, what I should do," Radwanska said. "It's great to have those kind of people that know me. We are good friends, we understand each other very well. We enjoy working with each other."
"He just wanted me to work hard, of course changing some things to make practice more interesting."
Such as?
"Just having a lot of different exercises," Radwanska added. "Not a huge difference."
That's all it takes sometimes to lead to an improvement.
"A new coach might be saying the same things as the old coach but in a slightly different way, and it kind of clicks with a player," Jo Durie, a former world No. 5 and now an analyst with Eurosport, said in an interview. "And sometimes you might get a little stale, I guess, doing the same thing with the same people over and over again."
"Of course I'm going to work hard to [try to win a major], if not this year, maybe next year," Radwanska said.
http://tinyurl.com/7gh7teo
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Timea did not bean finals in Mexico
Unable to reach a finale of the Mexican bean Tímeának women's tennis tournament where the top four in the Kazakh Yaroslav Svedova he commanded a halt.
The Hungarian rider has won the quarter-finals, 6:2, 6:1 from the Slovakian Jana diadalmaskodva Cepelova over Svedova however, 6:2, 7:6 proved to be better on his website, the ITF tournament.
Katalin Marosi same place in doubles - Janette Husárovával side - the finalists after the first priority as the Hungarian and Slovakian duo 7:5, 7:6 by Kiki won the Dutch Bert Hogenkamp double against Riche. In the first place as the second priority, Maria-Elena Camerin, Maria Koritceva Italian, Ukrainian Matches with a few players.
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14:00 Hampton - Radwanska
16:00 Azarenka - Goerges
17:30 Vinci - Sharapova
20:00 Bartoli - Safarova
23:30 Ivanovic - Wozniacki
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I think Safarova is cute but not ready for my stable. Julia really needs to play a good match today.. She really has nothing to lose and should leave it all out on the court. I haven't seen this Hampton woman play before. I feel sorta dirty for saying this but Imbecile is going to take Bunny out!
Thong-gate? Looks sorta like a thong but her right leg seems to have the bottom of white shorts showing. Unless of course that's a leg wrap? Or maybe Bird is wearing her thong OVER the anti-peep-show shorts?
Stop the press!
Or maybe Bird is wearing her thong OVER the anti-peep-show shorts?
That sounds like something Bunny would say.
Lets try this again -- Maybe Bird is wearing white shorts with the butt cheeks cut out?
Aggie up 4-1 on Hampton in the first set. This Hampton chick has a nice backhand and power. But, of course that doesn't matter when playing the queen of all tricks.
Btw, just figured out ALL THE WOMEN are playing today and therefore Bambi's match isn't being televised! That is f'ing outrageous.
Aggie wins via retirement in the third set, another one? Shocker.
Bambi's match not being televised? A U.S. player, a rising star, playing in the U.S. I say we burn down all sports T.V. studios.
Thong gate: My conspiracy theory is that Mrs. Angry was wearing a thong underneath her see through white shorts; flashing her bum to the unexpected masses.
Aggie was up like 1-0 or something in the third set.. Then Hampton had cramping and was sprawled on the ground crying. Followed by her getting attended to on court, and she lost 2 game points for that one. So, down 3-0 she retired after trying to play a bit.
Pathetic showing by Goerges as usual in the big matches.
Bambi is battling out there, watching scoreboard. She lost the first set 3-6, won the second 6-3, and is up 6-5 in the third set.
Kerber serving, Bambi has a match point, but now its deuce.
Game point Kerber.
Back to deuce.
Match point Bambi.
Back to deuce.
Game point Kerber.
Onto the tiebreak:
Bambi is suddenly down 0-3, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6, 3-6, 4-6, 2-7.
Damn! I really wanted her to make the QF.
But, no shame in losing to Kerber at this point.
I do agree there is no shame in losing to Kerbey, but I have to call it as I see it. Bambi was up 4-1 in the third all she had to do was hold serve. Kerbey served to cut the lead 2-4, then Bambi lost serve,(last I checked it 0-40) that's when I said 'Oh, oh'. It was a rookie choke, but definitely by being a newcomer she gets a pass from me. She can take it to the bank as a learning experience. I too wanted her badly in the QF. I want to see Bambi reach at least round of 16 in Miami.
I think a lot of players don't like coming to Indian Wells. I still say it would better to play this tournament in Carson if it can hold a big event like this. The reason, Carson is closer to L.A. rather than being in the middle of the desert.
I thought this tournament was mandatory how come The Babos didn't play in it? She would have been exempt to play qualies and be in the main draw for the first round. Don't understand that move at all.
moving to new thread
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